Jim Lafferty – MindNation Blog

A whopping 97 percent of millennial employees consider development in a job important, according to a survey by analytics and advisory company Gallup. The report further states that millennials are the generation most likely to switch jobs and be on the lookout for new opportunities because “they want more out of life, and they believe they can get it.”

Business leaders should therefore give importance to an employee’s career advancement. If they don’t, they risk undermining morale and productivity by leaving talented workers feeling like they aren’t valued.

“The most important part of a company is its people,” says James Michael “Jim” Lafferty, CEO of Fine Hygienic Holdings, a wellness company with headquarters in Dubai that makes personal care and hygienic products. “And if you value your people, you should care about how they are developing in their career and in everything else that comes with it.”

Apart from being a multi-awarded business leader, Jim is also a mentor and coach to national and Olympic-level athletes. “One of our key roles as leaders is to nurture the next generation of talent,” he wrote in his blog. “It means pushing them….Believing in them. Stretching them.”

“One of our key roles as leaders is to nurture the next generation of talent.”
James Michael “Jim” Lafferty, CEO of Fine Hygienic Holdings

Here are some strategies you can use to promote the development of your employees:

Take an interest in your employee’s career goals

Communicate frequently with your team so that you stay attuned to their career aspirations and expectations. Then help them outline a potential career path within the company so they can better visualize their future. Clear, direct, and consistent communication from you about career advancement steps can help workers feel more engaged.

Promote trainings and skills development courses
There are many virtual learning opportunities available now, so encourage your team to pursue relevant business courses and workshops that will further their career advancement. If you cannot pay for the entire course fee, at least subsidize it — investing in employee career development can deliver a strong ROI for your business.

Another option is to conduct an in-house training program, where you or your executives can conduct virtual sessions touching on your various expertise.

Lastly, look for companies that hold self-improvement webinars that anyone in the team can benefit from, whether they are seasoned executives or new hires. MindNation offers Company Culture Drive talks, which are interactive virtual trainings that cover topics ranging from Beating Burnout to Managing Difficult Conversations.

Do not sugarcoat feedback.
“This is the biggest issue in managing people; it’s hard to sit down and tell people ‘You’re not up to your potential,’ ‘You can be so great but you don’t just apply yourself,’ or ‘You need to work on XYZ,’” Jim points out. “But people need different things at different points in their life — sometimes it’s a pat on the back, other times it’s straight feedback. The latter may not always be what they want, but it’s what they need to become better.”

Support work-life balance.
Encourage your employees to work smart, maximize their efficiency, and leave time and energy for their non-work interests. Taking care of your team’s well-being can also prevent stress from rising and leading to burnout. By adopting policies that enhance work-life balance, you can help your workers find the time to do their jobs, attend to personal demands, and even engage in professional and personal development activities that can help them become the best version of themselves.

“Developing people is at the foundation of great leaders,” Jim wrote. “Building up the skills and capabilities of one’s team is the only sure way to sustainable success in business.”

MindNation’s well-being program is based on a person’s holistic wellness — not only can we help you build teams that are physically, mentally, and emotionally well, we also help them discover their passion and purpose in life so that they become happier, healthier, and more productive. Visit http://www.mindnation.com to know more about our services.

Jim Lafferty is not just the CEO of Fine Hygienic Holding (FHH), a wellness company that makes personal care and hygienic products. He is also an athlete, Olympic coach, philanthropist, speaker, and corporate trainer — all on top of being a devoted family man to his wife and five children.

He began his career as a fitness trainer for Procter & Gamble employees in 1983 before moving up the ranks and becoming the company’s CEO, eventually going on to hold top positions at other Fortune 500 companies. Throughout his journey, health and wellness has been his priority, not just for himself but also for his team. “The starting point of being successful is your health; if you don’t have your health, you don’t have anything,” he points out.

Apart from exercising regularly and watching his diet, here are Jim’s strategies for living a life full of energy and positivity:

“We take on many roles in life — for instance, I am not only a businessman, a coach, and an athlete, I am also a father, a husband, a brother, a nephew, so on and so forth. I believe that at maximum, we can only do five roles well.”
Jim Lafferty, CEO of Fine Hygienic Holding (FHH)

Acknowledge that you can’t do everything. “We take on many roles in life — for instance, I am not only a businessman, a coach, and an athlete, I am also a father, a husband, a brother, a nephew, so on and so forth,” Jim enumerates. “But I believe that at maximum, we can only do five roles well. And my five roles are to be the best husband, father, philanthropist-coach, athlete, and CEO out there. Everything else — such as being a brother and a nephew — is not a priority for me, and my family understands that.”

This is why Jim is very clear about what he says “no” and “yes” to. “I get offers to sit on other boards all the time, but I turn them down because they will take up too much time from what I really want to do,” he explains. “At the end of the day, I am clear on what legacy I want to leave behind, and that is to be a good father and contribute to society in the best way possible.”

Cope with setbacks by employing perspective. When asked to name the biggest challenge he has ever encountered and what he did to cope, Jim says: “I don’t stress out over setbacks very easily because I always try to keep things in perspective.”

As an example, he relates the story of a female employee who was five months pregnant with twins when she caught a severe case of COVID-19 and had to be hospitalized. To protect both the mother and babies’ health, doctors did an emergency c-section and delivered the babies prematurely. Unfortunately, all three passed away not long after. “What can I possibly be going through now that’s even close to what the husband and father are going through?” he points out. “I get upset, yes, but are those bad news really that earth-shattering? If you widen your perspective and learn what other people in the world are going through, you realize that more often than not, you have nothing to complain about.”

Prioritize employee well-being. When Jim came on board as CEO of FHH, one of the first things he did was to align the company’s values with his own. “We are a wellness company and wellness starts at home; and home for us is our employees,” he shares. To start with, he spearheaded the construction of a world class, state-of-the-art fitness center at the company’s headquarters in Dubai, and initiated company-wide fitness challenges like push-up competitions to encourage employees to take care of their physical health.

When the COVID-19 pandemic struck, the company partnered with MindNation to launch an Employee Assistance Program that includes 24/7 teletherapy support from qualified psychologists and WellBeing Coaches to all Fine employees and their immediate family members so that they can cope with the mental health challenges brought about by social isolation and other worries. “We try to protect our employees as much as we can, physically and mentally, because you cannot have good health without either one,” Jim explains.

Finally, Jim has taken it upon himself to make the company more diverse and inclusive. “When I arrived at the company, the management team was 100 percent comprised of men, and they only came from two countries,” he relates. “I met each and every one of them, and those who were not performing well were let go in the most graceful and dignified way possible.” To fill up the five vacancies that resulted from this reorganization, Jim talked to headhunters and imposed one rule — that only female applicants be considered. “Everyone was surprised, but I told them there are talented women all over the city, don’t tell me we can’t find any,” he points out.

All five roles did get filled up by women, and today FHH boasts of women comprising 38% of leadership roles in the company — unprecedented in the Arab world. “I’ve seen a lot of progress on acceptance of women as leaders but it’s an uphill battle and it’s going to take time,” Jim admits. “But if we want to be responsible members of society, we have to participate in the changes that society has to go through.”

Celebrate the journey, not the destination. When it comes to long-term goals, Jim is not a believer of deadlines and timelines. For Jim, it’s about seeing his children progressing happily in their lives and the organization growing and becoming better. “But I don’t tell myself ‘Oh, I have to do this or see these results by the end of the year,’” he shares. “Instead, I ask myself, ‘Am I closer to the goal today than I was yesterday?’ And if the answer is ‘yes,’ then I already feel accomplished. You can’t measure life by a stopwatch.”

Happier and healthier employees are productive employees. Partner with MindNation to provide your team with a well-being that is holistic, data-driven, and customized for your needs. Email [email protected] to know more.